April 30 deadline for Examples of Excelencia

From the organization Excelencia in Education at www.EdExcelencia.org:

This terrific organization featured recently highlighted on Hispanic American Village (see previous Navigating Higher Ed for Latinos post) is about to conclude its call for nominations for its 2007 Examples of Excelencia initiative, whose goal is to "identify, celebrate, and promote models, programs, and institutional departments that significantly contribute to improving educational achievement for Latino students in higher education."

The short version is: They are looking for recommendations of educational models and programs THAT WORK. They annually collect, spotlight, recognize, and support with awards examples of "programs and departments that are at the forefront in increasing academic opportunities and improving achievement for Latino students."

The longer version and a nomination form is here at the Call for Examples of Excelencia. If you know about a great teaching model or program, share it with them by April 30!

Navigating Higher Ed for Latinos: Part I

Navigating Higher Ed for Latinos: Part I
Added: Part 1 of a series focusing on Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) -- their history, issues and what role they play in the education options available to Hispanic students today

Ken Burns still can't get with the program

After nearly ignoring Latinos in his 14-hour PBS documentary on jazz--Machito, Tito Puente, and Eddie Palmieri were mere dust in the wind--and, in his baseball epic, spending 6 minutes on Roberto Clemente with but a nod to other Hispanic players who have, Hellooo, gained hegemony over the sport, Ken Burns, in his latest attempt to tell it like it is to the US public, completely blows off the 500,000 Latinos who served, and gave their lives, during World War II.
But this time, not so fast. PBS's golden boy is being beleaguered by an organized opposition that is threatening to boycott the Public Broadcasting system if edits aren't made to include the stories of soldiers who received more Congressional Medals of Honor, in proportion to their population, than any other ethnic group. Historian Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez, who's been on the case of Latinos in W.W. II, has formed
Defend the Honor, a coalition attempting to exact apologies and change. The group is being supported by the Hispanic Caucus, and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists has weighed heavily in. So far, PBS and Burns are standing firm on: Sorry Charley, but Burns is a good guy whose artistic integrity shouldn't be messed with. The series is to be aired in November. Let's see if it's still status quo by then.
Meanwhile here's a brief survey of the righteous indignance of the media:
National Public Radio's LatinoUSA--great show. Podcast it.
Alternet
The Albuquerque Journal via HispanicBusiness.com
Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez on Democracy Now

ASNE Report Finds Percentage of Minorities in Newsrooms Declining

ASNE Report Finds Percentage of Minorities in Newsrooms Declining

According to the American Newspaper Editors Association 2007 survey on the representation of minorities in U.S. news media, the percentages of minority and women journalists working in America’s newsrooms both declined in the past year. According to ASNE, it is only the second time since the survey started in 1978 that the percentage of minorities has declined.

In a year marked by news organization layoffs that were headlines in themselves, ASNE’s annual “census” found that the percentage of minorities fell to 13.62 percent, down from 13.87 last year. The percentage of women also dropped from 37.70 to 37.56 percent.

The percentage of minorities in supervisory roles at daily newspapers dropped to 10.9 percent, equal to the percentage from two years ago. The downward trend holds true for student and entry-level employment as well. According to ASNE’s release, the percentage of minority interns stands at nearly 27 percent, “a number that has continued to fall as newspapers cut back” on internships.

The one silver lining in the report seemed to come from online media. ASNE’s census of daily newspapers for the first time counted full-time staffers who work entirely at online publishing activities by their companies. Among online media staffs, the percentage of minorities on staff was an estimated 16 percent, which helped make the drop in overall employment numbers seem less severe than they might have been.

See a fuller report at IMDiversity, ASNE Report Finds Percentage of Minorities in Newsrooms Declining, or view detailed data tables from the census at the ASNE website.